JP6547607B2 - Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding sheets to an image forming apparatus and other apparatuses using sheets, and an image forming apparatus therefor. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus which can cope with a plurality of types of sheet sizes and is particularly suitable for use in handling a large amount of sheets, and an image forming apparatus using the sheet feeding apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a copying machine or other image forming apparatus, a sheet feeding device is used which stores sheets to be used for image formation and supplies them one by one to an image forming unit. In this type of sheet feeding apparatus, a movable sheet guide is usually provided to correspond to a plurality of sheet sizes. For example, the "paper feed cassette" disclosed in Patent Document 1 is an example. The paper feed cassette of the same document is provided with "side guides 12a and 12b" for regulating the sheet in the width direction, and "back guides 13a and 13b" for contacting the rear side and the side of the sheet. The "side guides 12a and 12b" can slide in the width direction of the sheet. Although the "back guides 13a and 13b" are not slidable, the mounting position is displayed for each sheet size standard to be used.

Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2007-168910

  However, in these image forming apparatuses in recent years, the demand for increasing the capacity of the sheet feeding device is increasing. This is because the larger number of sheets that can be stored in the sheet feeding device is convenient because the user can save the trouble of the replenishment operation. This requirement is particularly noticeable for frequently used paper sizes. The above-mentioned conventional techniques are not necessarily sufficient for such high-volume applications.

  When the number of sheets stored is large, the sheet loading operation is usually divided into several times. As a result, there is a possibility that positional deviations due to manual loading may be accumulated near the bottom and the top of the loaded sheets. Also, the inertia of the stored paper is large. Therefore, the load applied from the sheet to the regulating member that regulates the end of the sheet is also large. Therefore, with the movable restricting members such as the above-mentioned "side guides 12a and 12b", there is a possibility that the displacement of the sheet can not be prevented or the sheet is damaged by an impact from the sheet. A regulating member corresponding to the sheet size by changing the mounting position like "back guides 13a and 13b" is more advantageous than a movable type in terms of handling a large load. However, depending on the paper size used, this restriction member itself may not be used. Patent Document 1 does not mention processing when the "back guides 13a and 13b" are not used.

  The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the above-described conventional techniques. That is, the problem is that it can cope with a plurality of types of paper sizes, and the control members can be properly processed even if some of the control members are not used depending on the paper size to be used. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding device suitable for use for handling a large amount of sheets of paper, and an image forming apparatus using the same.

  The sheet feeding device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a loading table on which sheets to be fed are stacked, and a sheet feeding mechanism that draws out and feeds the uppermost sheet of the sheets stacked on the loading table. A paper machine, wherein the end position of the sheet on the loading table in one direction is restricted for the case where the size of the sheets stacked on the loading table is the maximum size in the one direction; A removable spare regulating member which regulates the end position of the sheet on the loading table in the one direction in the case where the size of the sheets stacked on the loading table in the one direction is a size other than the maximum size And a side restricting member for restricting an end position in a cross direction intersecting with one direction of the sheet on the loading table, and a spare restricting member is attached to the loading table, and the sheet on the loading table is Regulating the one direction The side mounting member is provided with a main mounting portion, and the side restricting member is integrated with a backup restricting member not mounted to the main mounting portion at a position that does not affect the control in the cross direction of the sheets on the loading table. Is provided with a secondary mounting portion to be stored in the housing.

  In the sheet feeding device according to the above aspect, the restriction of the end position of the sheet on the loading table in one direction is based on the size of the sheet on the loading table in one direction, the permanent installation restricting member and the detachable spare It is performed by either one of the restriction member. That is, the spare restricting member is attached to perform the restriction if the size is other than the maximum size, but the permanent installation restricting member performs the restriction in the case of the maximum size. For this reason, in the case of the maximum size, no spare regulating member is used. The spare regulating member which is not used is accommodated in the side regulating member which regulates the end position of the sheet in the cross direction. The side regulating member is integrally housed by attaching the spare regulating member to be stored at a position not affecting the regulation of the sheet. As a result, the spare regulating member which is not used is prevented from disturbing the sheet loading operation and the like, and the loss is also prevented.

  In the sheet feeding apparatus according to the above aspect, the sub mounting portion is further provided at a position closer to the upper end than the center in the vertical direction of the side regulating member, and is mounted to the main mounting portion or the sub mounting portion in the spare regulating member. To be installed, and the mounting part is such that the posture of the spare regulating member is upside down between when it is attached to the main attachment part and when it is attached to the sub attachment part desirable. With such a configuration, the attachment / detachment operation of the mounting portion of the spare regulating member to the auxiliary mounting portion of the side regulation member can be performed at a high position, which makes the operation easy.

  In the sheet feeding device of the above aspect, the side restriction member has a thickness in the cross direction, and the sub attachment portion attaches the spare restriction member so as to be accommodated within the thickness range of the side restriction member. Is desirable. It is useful that the side regulating members have a thickness in the cross direction to resist the inertia of the loaded paper. By storing the preliminary regulating member within the range of the thickness, it is possible to effectively utilize the dimension in the thickness direction of the side regulating member.

  In the sheet feeding device of the above aspect, it is preferable that the auxiliary mounting portion be attached so as to store the spare regulating member on the side opposite to the side of the side regulating member that regulates the sheet. This is because the position on the side opposite to the side for restricting the sheet in the side restriction member is a position that does not affect the restriction on the sheet by the side restriction member.

  In the sheet feeding device according to the above aspect, the side regulating member is removable with respect to the loading table whether or not the spare regulating member is stored, and the side of the loading table is the side. It is preferable that a side attachment portion be provided in a state in which the sheet on the loading table is restricted in the cross direction by attaching the direction restricting member to correspond to the size of two or more levels in the cross direction of the sheet. This makes it possible to cope with multiple levels of size in the cross direction of the sheet. In addition, when it is intended to change the mounting position of the side restricting member in the cross direction, even if the side restricting member stores the spare restricting member, the side restricting member can be changed as it is.

  In the sheet feeding apparatus of the above aspect, the sheet feeding device further includes a lifting plate capable of moving up and down, which pushes up the sheets stacked on the loading table, and the auxiliary mounting portion is the lower end of the moving range of the lifting plate. It is desirable to attach so that it may be made to project partially downward rather than a position. With this configuration, the push-up plate does not collide with the spare restricting member when trying to raise the push-up plate in a state where the spare restricting member is accommodated in the side restricting member.

  In the sheet feeding device according to the above aspect, the sheet feeding mechanism pulls out the sheet on the loading table in the opposite direction to the side of the end portion regulated by the permanent installation regulating member or the spare regulation member. It is desirable that the sheet on the loading table be provided on the side with respect to the sheet withdrawal direction by the sheet feeding mechanism. With such a configuration, the permanent installation regulating member or the preliminary regulating member regulates the rear end of the sheet, and the side regulating member regulates the side end of the sheet.

  In the sheet feeding apparatus in which the sheet feeding direction by the sheet feeding mechanism is as described above, the “one direction” described above corresponds to the sheet pulling out direction. In this case, the permanent installation regulating member is further formed with a concave portion which is recessed from above at a central position with respect to the cross direction, and has two spare regulating members and the side A restriction member is provided on each side of the sheet on the loading table in the cross direction, and as a main attachment portion, two spare restriction members are used corresponding to the first size smaller than the maximum size in the sheet withdrawal direction. , A first primary mounting portion attached respectively to positions corresponding to both parts of the regular installation regulating member avoiding the concave portion, and a second preliminary regulation member corresponding to a second size smaller than the first size in the paper withdrawal direction It is desirable that a second main attachment portion be provided at a position corresponding to the concave portion.

  According to this configuration, first, when the paper of the maximum size is used and the spare regulating member is not used, the concave portion of the permanent installation regulating member secures an access space for loading the sheets on the loading table. . Even in the case where two spare regulating members are attached to the first main mounting portion in correspondence with the first size sheet, the concave portion of the permanent installation regulating member ensures the access space for the loading operation. This is because the two spare regulating members overlap with both parts of the permanent regulating member avoiding the concave portion, and no preliminary regulating member is present in the concave portion. When one spare regulating member is attached to the second main mounting portion in correspondence with the second size sheet, the spare regulating member is positioned so as to overlap the concave portion of the permanent installation regulating member. However, in this case, since there is a gap between the end of the sheet and the permanent installation regulating member due to the small sheet size, there is no particular hindrance to the stacking operation. When only one spare regulating member is used, the other spare regulating member will not be used. The spare regulating member which is not used may be accommodated in any one side regulating member.

  An image forming apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention is an image forming apparatus having a sheet feeding unit and an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet supplied from the sheet feeding unit, wherein the sheet feeding unit It incorporates the sheet feeding device of any aspect.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to cope with a plurality of types of paper sizes, and even if some of the control members are not used depending on the size of the paper used, the control members can be properly processed. There is also provided a sheet feeding device suitable for applications corresponding to large-volume loading, and an image forming apparatus using the same.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sheet cassette (first state) according to the embodiment. It is a top view of a paper cassette (the 1st state) concerning an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet cassette (first state) according to the embodiment at a position C-C in FIG. 3. It is a perspective view of a side regulation board in an embodiment. It is a top view of the side control plate in an embodiment. It is sectional drawing in the DD position in FIG. 6 of the side control board in embodiment. It is a rear view of the side control plate in embodiment. It is a perspective view of a spare control member in an embodiment. It is a perspective view of the side control plate which accommodates the spare control member. It is a top view of the side control plate which accommodates the spare control member. It is sectional drawing in the DD position in FIG. 11 of the side control board which accommodates the preliminary control member. It is a rear view of the side control plate which accommodates the spare control member. It is a top view of the push-up board in an embodiment. It is a top view of a baseplate in an embodiment. It is an enlarged plan view explaining the hole for attaching a spare control member formed in the bottom plate of an embodiment. It is a perspective view of a paper cassette (the 2nd state) concerning an embodiment. It is a top view of a paper cassette (the 2nd state) concerning an embodiment. FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet cassette (second state) according to the embodiment at a position C-C in FIG. 18; It is a perspective view of the paper cassette (3rd state) which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view of a paper cassette (the 3rd state) concerning an embodiment. FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet cassette (third state) according to the embodiment at a position C-C in FIG. 21. FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet cassette (third state) according to the embodiment at a position GG in FIG. 21. FIG. 24 is an enlarged view of a portion indicated by an arrow J in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 includes an image forming unit 10, a sheet feeding unit 11, and a reading unit 12. The image forming unit 10 incorporates a known image forming mechanism as described in, for example, FIG. 1 of JP-A-2006-113470, and forms a toner image on a sheet. The sheet feeding unit 11 incorporates a plurality of sheet trays 18 and 19 and stores sheets to be supplied to the image forming unit 10. The reading unit 12 reads an image of a document.

  The image forming apparatus 1 is further provided with a sheet discharge tray 13 and an operation display unit 14. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a lower door 15, a manual feed tray 16, and an upper door 17 are provided on the right side of the exterior surface of the image forming apparatus 1. The lower door 15 is an open / close door for coping with a paper jam in the paper feeding unit 11. The upper door 17 is an open / close door for coping with a paper jam in the image forming unit 10. The manual feed tray 16 is drawn in a closed state in FIG.

  Of course, the present invention is applied to the image forming apparatus 1 described above, and of course, the paper feeding section 11. In particular, the sheet tray 19 is a large capacity tray among the sheet trays 18 and 19. Hereinafter, the sheet tray 19 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

  The paper tray 19 is shown in FIG. The sheet tray 19 shown in FIG. 2 is in a state of being pulled out from the image forming apparatus 1 in the pull-out direction (left downward in FIG. 2) in the removing and inserting direction A. The insertion and removal direction A corresponds to the depth direction of the image forming apparatus 1. The sheet tray 19 includes a front plate 20 which is also an outer plate in the image forming apparatus 1, a rear plate 21 positioned at the farthest side in the image forming apparatus 1, a sheet feeding mechanism 22, and a rear wall plate (constant installation restriction member) 23. And. Due to these four factors, the sheet tray 19 has a substantially rectangular box-like outer shape when viewed from above. The sheet feeding mechanism 22 pulls out the uppermost sheet of the sheets stacked on the sheet tray 19 and feeds it in the transport direction F. For this purpose, the sheet feeding mechanism 22 is provided with a pickup roller 24. The sheet tray 19 shown in FIG. 2 also has a side restriction plate 25. The insertion and removal direction A is a direction intersecting the transport direction F.

  The paper tray 19 is as shown in FIG. 3 when viewed from above. As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet tray 19 is provided with two side restriction plates 25. One of the two side restriction plates 25 is disposed near the front plate 20 and the other is disposed near the back plate 21. In FIG. 3, an area B surrounded by the two side restriction plates 25, the sheet feeding mechanism 22, and the rear wall plate 23 in the four directions is an area where sheets are stacked. The sheet tray 19 shown in FIG. 3 additionally has a bottom plate 26 and a push-up plate 27. Also, although only slightly visible in FIGS. 2 and 3, the paper tray 19 is also provided with two spare regulating members 31. The preliminary regulating member 31 will be described later.

  FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the sheet tray 19. As shown in FIG. 4, in addition to the pickup roller 24, the sheet feeding mechanism 22 is provided with a sheet feeding roller 28 and a loosening roller 29. The feed roller 28 transports the sheet taken out by the pickup roller 24 in the transport direction F. The separating roller 29 is for preventing the second and subsequent sheets from being fed together. Further, a front wall plate 30 is provided below the sheet feeding mechanism 22. Further, the push-up plate 27 shown in FIG. 3 is positioned above the bottom plate 26 and is provided to be movable up and down. The bottom plate 26 is located at the lowest position in the paper tray 19 in FIG. The bottom plate 26, unlike the push-up plate 27, does not move up and down.

  In FIG. 4, the push-up plate 27 is at the lowermost position within the elevating range, and the sheet P is actually stacked thereon. The sheet P is stacked on the push-up plate 27. Thus, the sheet P is located above the bottom plate 26. A combination of the bottom plate 26 and the push-up plate 27 corresponds to a loading table. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the sheet tray 19 has a large capacity of about 1000 sheets. The sheet P shown in FIG. 4 is drawn assuming about a quarter of the maximum number of sheets that can be stacked on the sheet tray 19. The push-up plate 27 is configured not to swing but to rise as a whole while maintaining its level. The push-up plate 27 ascends as shown by the arrow U until the uppermost one of the sheets P reaches the take-out height by the pickup roller 24. In addition, since the mechanism itself which raises / lowers the push-up board 27 is well-known, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The side restricting plate 25 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 5, the side restriction plate 25 is a vertically long rectangular member as a whole. The side restricting plate 25 has a restricting surface 32 and a side wall surface 33. The restricting surface 32 is a surface parallel to the transport direction F, and in contact with the end portion of the sheet P to restrict its position. The side wall surface 33 is a portion provided perpendicular to the restricting surface 32 in a direction away from the sheet P. The side wall surface 33 is parallel to the insertion and removal direction A shown in FIG. The side wall surface 33 is a surface for providing the side restriction plate 25 with rigidity. Furthermore, due to the presence of the side wall surface 33, the side restriction plate 25 has a certain thickness T (see FIG. 6) in the insertion and removal direction A. As a result, the side restriction plate 25 is configured to have a rigidity that withstands an inertial force of up to about 1000 sheets while restricting the end of the sheet P on the side in the width direction with respect to the transport direction F.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the side restriction plate 25 has a recess 34 formed by the back surface of the restriction surface 32 and the side wall surface 33 on the back side of the restriction surface 32, that is, the side not in contact with the sheet P. In the recess 34, a mounting stay (sub mounting portion) 35 is provided so as to protrude from the back surface of the regulating surface 32. The mounting stay 35 is a flat member in which two screw holes 36 are formed. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the mounting stay 35 is located near the upper end of the entire height of the side restriction plate 25. Therefore, the lower part of the mounting stay 35 is an empty space due to the recess 34. Further, the side restricting plate 25 is fixedly attached to the bottom plate 26 by four screws 37 at its lower end.

  Subsequently, the preliminary regulating member 31 will be described with reference to FIG. The preliminary regulating member 31 has a regulating portion 38 which is a curved deformation of a round bar, and a mounting portion 39 at the lower end thereof. The restricting portion 38 is a portion in contact with the end of the sheet P to restrict its position. For this reason, the restricting portion 38 is flat as a whole even though it is a curved round bar. In FIG. 9, the front side (arrow E side) of the restricting portion 38 functions as a surface for restricting the end of the sheet P. The mounting portion 39 is a portion for attaching the spare regulating member 31 to the bottom plate 26 with two screws 37. The preliminary restricting member 31 is for restricting the end of the sheet P in the transport direction F on the rear end side (left side in FIG. 4). Of course, the side restricting plate 25 is similar to the side restricting plate 25 in that it has the strength to endure an inertial force of up to about 1000 sheets. The distance between the two screw holes 36 described in FIG. 6 is equal to the distance between the holes for the two screws 37 in the mounting portion 39.

  However, in the situation shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the preliminary regulating member 31 is not used for regulating the end of the sheet P. In these figures, the preliminary regulating member 31 is in a state of being integrally housed in the side regulating plate 25. This is because the sheet tray 19 in the situation of these figures is set to match the largest possible size with respect to the size of the sheet P in the conveyance direction F. For this reason, in the sheet tray 19 in these figures, the rear wall plate 23 plays the role of restricting the end portion on the rear end side of the sheet P instead of the spare restricting member 31. The rear wall plate 23 is always installed on the sheet tray 19 unlike the spare regulating member 31 which can be detached from the bottom plate 26. The back wall plate 23 is, of course, made to have a strength that can withstand an inertial force of up to about 1000 sheets.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the back wall plate 23 is formed with a concave portion 40 which is concave from above. The concave portion 40 is formed at a central position in the insertion / removal direction A in the rear wall plate 23. Due to the formation of the concave portion 40, the rear wall plate 23 has a front portion 41 and a rear portion 42 in the insertion and removal direction A. The concave portion 40 is formed to make it easy for the user to load the sheets P on the sheet tray 19. That is, this is to make it easy for the user to put his / her hand in the sheet stacking area B (see FIG. 3).

  Subsequently, the situation of storage of the spare regulating member 31 which has not been used will be described. The spare regulating member 31 which is not used is integrally stored in the side regulating plate 25 as described above. The side restricting plate 25 in which the spare restricting member 31 is integrally housed is shown in FIGS. In this state, the preliminary regulating member 31 is turned upside down from the state shown in FIG. That is, the portion of the mounting portion 39 which is supposed to be directed downward is directed upward. Then, in this state, the mounting portion 39 is mounted to the mounting stay 35 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) of the side restriction plate 25 by two screws 37.

  For this reason, when the side restriction plate 25 is viewed from the upper side in this state (see FIGS. 10 and 11), the mounting stay 35 is hidden by the mounting portion 39. That is, in this state, the mounting portion 39 is superimposed on the mounting stay 35, and in this state, both are fixed by the screw 37. Further, a restricting portion 38 which is a main portion of the spare restricting member 31 is accommodated in a recess 34 which is a vacant space below the mounting stay 35 in the side restricting plate 25 (see FIGS. 12 and 13). In this state, most of the spare regulating member 31 is accommodated within the thickness T of the side regulating plate 25.

  In the situation shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, as described above, the spare regulating member 31 is integrally housed in the side regulating plate 25. The side restriction plate 25 accommodating the preliminary restriction member 31 is fixedly attached to the bottom plate 26 in this manner, and the end portion of the sheet P is restricted. For this reason, in the situation shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the spare regulating member 31 does not interfere with the loading operation of the sheets P on the sheet tray 19 by the user. Moreover, the loss of the spare regulating member 31 which is not used does not occur.

  In addition, the mounting stay 35 of the side restriction plate 25 is provided near the upper end of the side restriction plate 25 as described above. This is because the spare regulating member 31 is stored upside down. As a result, the operation of fixing the mounting portion 39 to the mounting stay 35 with the screw 37 (the same operation as the removal) is performed at a relatively high position near the upper end of the side restriction plate 25. This makes it possible to facilitate this desorption operation.

  Next, the push-up plate 27 will be described with reference to FIG. The push-up plate 27 is a flat member having an in-plane shape shown in FIG. In the push-up plate 27, windows 43 and 44 and recesses 45 to 47 are formed. The recesses 45 to 47 are provided on the side of the push-up plate 27 facing the rear wall plate 23. More specifically, the recess 45 at the center with respect to the insertion and removal direction A is formed at a position opposite to the recess 40 (see FIG. 2) in the back wall plate 23. Recesses 46 and 47 on both sides thereof are formed at positions opposite to the portions 41 and 42 in the rear wall plate 23. The windows 43 are provided symmetrically with respect to the insertion / removal direction A at a position closer to the front in the transport direction F than the recesses 45 to 47. The window portion 44 is provided at a middle position between the recess 45 and the window portion 43 in the transport direction F and at the center in the insertion and removal direction A.

  These are shapes for exposing a part of the bottom plate 26 when the sheet tray 19 in a state in which the sheets P are not stacked is viewed from above (see FIG. 3). In other words, in FIG. 3, only the area of the bottom plate 26 of the sheet tray 19 corresponding to the windows 43 and 44 and the recesses 45 to 47 in the push-up plate 27 is visible.

  Subsequently, the bottom plate 26 will be described with reference to FIG. A large number of holes are formed in a region of the bottom plate 26 which is not hidden by the push-up plate 27. The holes 48 in the region of the window portion 43 among them are arranged in two rows in parallel with the insertion and removal direction A as a whole. Each of the holes 48 is a screw hole, and is a hole (a side attachment portion) for fixing the side restriction plate 25 to the bottom plate 26 with four screws 37. As a result, the side restriction plate 25 can be attached at various positions in the width direction of the sheet P (extraction and insertion direction A) such that the restriction surface 32 is parallel to the conveyance direction F. It has become. In practice, the paper P is attached at a position where the paper P is restricted centerwise so that the restriction surfaces 32 of the two side restriction plates 25 face each other and in accordance with the size of the paper P in the width direction. The state shown in FIG. 3 is an example.

  Therefore, when the size in the width direction of the sheet P to be used is changed, the mounting positions of the two side restriction plates 25 can be changed accordingly. That is, the side restricting plate 25 is once removed from the bottom plate 26 by removing the screw 37, and is fixed to the screw 37 again at the changed position. In addition, the side regulation plate 25 can be attached and detached while the side regulation plate 25 stores the spare regulation member 31 as described above. Of course, it can also be performed in a state where the spare regulating member 31 is not stored. In addition, the operation of storing the preliminary restricting member 31 in the side restricting plate 25 can be performed even in the state in which the side restricting plate 25 is attached to the bottom plate 26, and the state in which the side restricting plate 25 is removed from the bottom plate 26 But you can. The operation of removing the spare regulating member 31 stored in the side regulating plate 25 is the same.

  Subsequently, the holes in the regions of the concave portions 45 to 47 and the window portion 44 in FIG. 15 will be described. The holes in the area of the window portion 44 constitute one hole group (main mounting portion) 49 with four holes as shown in FIG. The hole group 49 is composed of two non-screw holes 50 and two screw holes 51. The direction in which the non-screw holes 50 are connected and the direction in which the screw holes 51 are connected are both parallel to the width direction of the sheet P (extraction and insertion direction A). Further, the two screw holes 51 are provided at positions slightly forward in the transport direction F with respect to the two non-screw holes 50. Further, the distance between the two screw holes 51 is equal to the distance between the holes for the two screws 37 in the mounting portion 39 of the spare regulating member 31 shown in FIG. That is, the distance between the two screw holes 36 in the mounting stay 35 of the side regulating plate 25 shown in FIG. 6 is also equal.

  Thereby, the spare regulating member 31 can be attached to the bottom plate 26 by using the hole group 49. When the spare regulating member 31 is attached to the hole group 49, unlike the case where it is stored in the side regulating plate 25, it is attached without being inverted as shown in FIG. That is, the end of the regulating portion 38 slightly protruding below the mounting portion 39 is inserted into the two non-screw holes 50. By screwing the two screws 37 into the screw holes 51 in that state, the spare regulating member 31 is attached to the bottom plate 26. In that state, the front side of the restricting portion 38 of the preliminary restricting member 31 as viewed from the arrow E side in FIG.

  The above-described hole group 49 is formed in the regions of the recessed portions 45 to 47 and the window portion 44 in the bottom plate 26 in FIG. 15. The main ones are the holes 49A in the region of the recess 46, the holes 49B in the region of the recess 47, and the holes 49C in the region of the recess 45. The holes 49A and 49B are holes 49 for mounting the spare restricting member 31 at a position slightly closer to the front in the transport direction F than the rear wall plate 23. Furthermore, when the hole groups 49A and 49B are used, both of the two spare regulating members 31 are positioned off the center with respect to the width direction of the sheet P (extraction and insertion direction A). The hole group 49C is a hole group 49 for mounting the spare restricting member 31 at a position closer to the front in the transport direction F than when mounting using the hole groups 49A and 49B.

  Hereinafter, variations of the mounting position of the spare regulating member 31 in the sheet tray 19 will be described. First, as the first variation, those shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 will be listed. As described above, this state is set in accordance with the largest possible size with regard to the size of the sheet P in the transport direction F. Therefore, this state is set according to, for example, the letter size sheet vertical orientation (the size in the transport direction F is 215.9 mm) for the US market. The position of the side restriction plate 25 shown in FIG. 3 is also adjusted to the size (279.4 mm) of the sheet in the width direction.

  A second variation is shown in FIGS. 17-19. In this variation, two spare regulating members 31 are attached to the bottom plate 26 by using the above-mentioned holes 49A and 49B (see FIG. 15). Therefore, in this state, none of the two side regulating plates 25 accommodates the spare regulating member 31. In this state, as shown in FIG. 17 to FIG. 19, the preliminary regulating member 31 is fixed at a position immediately inside the rear wall plate 23 (right side in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19). Therefore, the states of FIGS. 17 to 19 correspond to the sheet P whose size in the transport direction F is slightly smaller than that of the first variation. For example, A4 size paper vertical orientation for the Japanese market (the size in the transport direction F is 210 mm) corresponds to this size. The position of the side regulating plate 25 shown in FIG. 18 is also changed to a position slightly wider than the state of FIG. 3 in accordance with the width direction size (297 mm) of the sheet.

  In the state of the second variation, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, two spare regulating members 31 are attached to the near side and the far side, avoiding the center of the sheet P in the width direction. This is because the attachment of the preliminary regulating member 31 is performed using the holes (49 A, 49 B) in the region of the concave portions 46, 47 in the push-up plate 27. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 17, the two spare regulating members 31 overlap with the portions 41 and 42 while avoiding the concave portion 40 of the rear wall plate 23 when viewed from the front as viewed from the front side in the transport direction F. Exists in Therefore, even in the state of the second variation, the location of the concave portion 40 is vacant. This point is common to the case of the first variation. Therefore, it is easy to load A4 sheets into the sheet loading area B in FIG.

  The third variation is shown in FIGS. In this variation, one spare regulating member 31 is attached to the bottom plate 26 using the above-mentioned hole group 49C (see FIG. 15). Therefore, in this state, only one of the two side regulating plates 25 accommodates the spare regulating member 31. In FIG. 20, FIG. 21 and FIG. 23, the preliminary regulating member 31 is accommodated in the side regulating plate 25 on the front side. However, contrary to this, the spare regulating member 31 may be accommodated in the side regulating plate 25 on the back side.

  In this state, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the preliminary regulating member 31 is fixed at a position further away from the rear wall plate 23 than the position of the second variation described above. Therefore, in the states of FIGS. 20 to 23, the size in the transport direction F is smaller than the size of the sheet P in the second variation. For example, B5 size paper vertical orientation for the Japanese market (the size in the transport direction F is 182 mm) corresponds to this size. The position of the side restriction plate 25 shown in FIGS. 21 and 23 is also changed to a position narrower than the state of FIG. 3 in accordance with the width direction size (257 mm) of the sheet.

  In the state of the third variation, one spare regulating member 31 is attached to the center of the sheet P in the width direction, as shown in FIGS. This is because the mounting is performed using the holes 49C in the region of the recess 45 in the push-up plate 27. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 23, the preliminary restricting member 31 is present at a position overlapping the concave portion 40 of the rear wall plate 23 as viewed from the front side in the transport direction F as seen from the front side to the rear side. This point is different from the case of the first variation and the second variation. However, in the state of the third variation in which the size of the back of the sheet is small, there is a gap H between the rear wall plate 23 and the rear end of the sheet P as shown in FIG. Therefore, even if the preliminary regulating member 31 exists at a position overlapping the concave portion 40 of the rear wall plate 23, there is a special hindrance to the loading of A4 sheets by the user's manual operation on the sheet loading area B in FIG. Absent.

  Further, the sheet tray 19 of the present embodiment is characterized in the relationship between the backup regulating member 31 and the push-up plate 27 in a state of being stored in the side regulating plate 25. This point will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 24 is an enlarged view of a portion where the side restriction plate 25 is attached to the bottom plate 26 in a state in which the spare restriction member 31 is stored. The lifting plate 27 also appears in FIG. However, what appears in FIG. 24 is the wall surface of the window 43 among the push-up plates 27. The position where the lifting plate 27 appears in FIG. 24 is the most lowered position within the range of the lifting and lowering movement of the lifting plate 27.

  As apparent from FIG. 24, the top 52 of the spare regulating member 31 in the state of being stored in the side regulating plate 25 is in a state of entering below the upper surface 53 of the push-up plate 27. The amount of penetration is indicated by "K" in FIG. That is, as described above, by storing the preliminary regulating member 31 upside down and storing it in the side regulating plate 25, the preliminary regulating member 31 partially protrudes downward below the lower end of the moving range of the push-up plate 27. It is Moreover, even in the state in which the push-up plate 27 is lowered most, such a situation occurs. This is realized by the relationship among the height direction position of the mounting stay 35 in the side restriction plate 25, the height direction dimension of the preliminary restriction member 31 itself, and the lower limit position of the raising and lowering movement range of the push-up plate 27. Be done.

  Therefore, when the push-up plate 27 is raised, the push-up plate 27 does not hit the top 52 of the preliminary regulating member 31. This means that the rigidity of the mounting stay 35 does not have to be very high. The fact that the rigidity of the mounting stay 35 is not high means that the position of the top portion 52 of the spare regulating member 31 mounted on the mounting stay 35 upside down may swing to some extent in FIG. .

  Nevertheless, when attaching the spare regulating member 31 to the mounting stay 35 according to the above setting, the top 52 of the spare regulating member 31 first enters the window 43 of the push-up plate 27 and then the mounting stay 35 and the mounting part 39 It will be concluded by the screw 37. For this reason, even if the rigidity of the mounting stay 35 is not high, the above collision can not occur due to the lifting of the push-up plate 27. The above description is not limited to the case where the preliminary regulating member 31 is housed in the side regulating plate 25 on the left side in FIG. 23, and the same applies to the case where the preliminary regulating member 31 is housed in the side regulating plate 25 on the right.

  As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, the spare regulating member 31 which is detachable from the bottom plate 26 is provided. The preliminary regulating member 31 regulates the rear end of the sheet P, but may not be used depending on the size of the sheet P to be loaded. And in this form, it is supposed that the spare regulation member 31 which is not used is stored in the side regulation plate 25. As a result, the spare regulating member 31 which is not used is prevented from interfering with the stacking operation of the sheets P. In addition, the loss of the spare regulating member 31 which is not used is also prevented.

  Further, the side restricting plate 25 has a certain thickness for securing rigidity, and most of the spare restricting member 31 is accommodated within the thickness range. For this reason, it is not necessary to enlarge the side restricting plate 25 for storing the spare restricting member 31. Further, storage of the spare regulating member 31 in the side regulating plate 25 is performed with the spare regulating member 31 turned upside down. This makes the mounting operation position high and easy to operate. As the attachment screw 37, one for attaching the spare regulating member 31 to the bottom plate 26 can be used as it is. Further, the side restriction plate 25 can be made as a common part with the screw 37 for attaching to the bottom plate 26.

  Further, storage of the preliminary regulating member 31 in the side regulating plate 25 is performed on the side of the side regulating plate 25 opposite to the sheet P. Thus, even if the preliminary regulating member 31 is accommodated in the side regulating plate 25, the regulation of the sheet P by the side regulating plate 25 is not affected. Further, due to the relationship between the position of the top 52 of the preliminary regulating member 31 housed in the side regulating plate 25 and the elevation range of the push-up plate 27, even if the preliminary regulating member 31 is housed in the side regulating plate 25, lifting There is no problem in raising the plate 27. As described above, it is possible to cope with a plurality of types of paper sizes, and even if some of the control members are not used depending on the paper size to be used, the control members can be properly processed. A sheet tray 19 which is a sheet feeding apparatus suitable for use for handling a large amount of P is realized, and an image forming apparatus 1 using the sheet tray.

  The present embodiment is merely an example and does not limit the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is naturally capable of various improvements and modifications without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, although it is a material of the side control board 25 or the preliminary control member 31, there is no special limitation. Although metal-based materials are advantageous for securing the strength described above, it is not impossible to secure necessary strength even with synthetic resin-based materials.

  Further, in the present embodiment, storage of the preliminary regulating member 31 in the side regulating plate 25 is performed on the side of the side regulating plate 25 opposite to the sheet P, but this is not an essential matter. . A configuration is also possible in which the preliminary regulating member 31 is accommodated on the surface of the side regulating plate 25 on the sheet P side. Even in such a case, it is possible to prevent the regulation of the sheet P by the side regulation plate 25 from being affected by providing a recess on the surface of the side regulation plate 25 on the side of the paper P.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the regulating member (preliminary regulating member 31) at the rear end of the sheet P is not used depending on the sheet size, and is stored in the regulating member at the side end (side regulating plate 25). However, a configuration is possible in which this relationship is reversed. That is, the regulating member at the side end of the sheet P is shaped like the preliminary regulating member 31 and is not used depending on the sheet size. Then, a configuration is also possible in which the regulating member at the rear end of the sheet P is shaped like the side regulating plate 25 and the regulating member not used is accommodated therein.

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 itself is not particularly limited. It may be a copier or a printer. It may be configured to be able to send and receive print jobs through a public line. The image forming unit 10 in FIG. 1 is not limited to a color machine, but may be a monochrome machine, or may not be a system using toner.

Reference Signs List 1 image forming apparatus 10 image forming unit 11 sheet feeding unit 19 sheet tray 22 sheet feeding mechanism 23 rear wall plate (constantly regulating member)
25 side regulating plate 26 bottom plate 27 lifting plate 31 spare regulating member 35 mounting stay (sub mounting portion)
36 screw hole 38 restriction portion 39 mounting portion 40 concave portion 41 portion 42 portion 48 hole (side mounting portion)
49 holes (main mounting part)
49A hole group (1st main mounting part)
49B Hole group (1st main mounting part)
49C Hole group (2nd main mounting part)
50 non-screw hole 51 screw hole 52 top A lead-out direction K protrusion amount T thickness

Claims (9)

A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: a loading table on which sheets to be fed are loaded; and a feeding mechanism for pulling out and feeding the uppermost sheet of the sheets loaded on the loading table,
A permanent setting restricting member for restricting an end position of a sheet on the loading table in one direction with respect to a case where the size of the sheets stacked on the loading table is the maximum size; A removable spare restricting member for restricting an end position of the sheet in the one direction in the case where the size in the one direction of the sheets stacked on the loading table is a size other than the maximum size;
And a side restriction member that restricts an end position of the sheet on the loading table in a cross direction crossing the one direction;
The loading stand is provided with a main attachment portion for attaching the spare restricting member to restrict the sheet on the loading stand in the one direction;
An auxiliary mounting portion for integrally storing the spare restricting member not attached to the main mounting portion at the side restricting member at a position not affecting the restriction of the sheet on the loading table in the cross direction A paper feeding apparatus characterized in that The sheet feeding device according to claim 1,
The sub mounting portion is provided at a position closer to the upper end than the center in the vertical direction of the side regulating member,
The spare regulating member is provided with a mounting portion for mounting to the main mounting portion or the sub mounting portion,
A sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mounting portion is configured such that the posture of the spare regulating member is upside down in the case where the mounting portion is mounted to the main mounting portion and the case where the mounting portion is mounted to the sub mounting portion. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1 or 2,
The side regulating member has a thickness in the cross direction,
The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary mounting portion is mounted so as to store the spare regulating member within the range of the thickness of the side regulating member. The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the auxiliary mounting portion is configured to oppose the spare regulating member to a side of the side regulating member for regulating a sheet. A sheet feeding device characterized in that it is attached so as to be stored on the surface side. The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The side restricting member is removable with respect to the loading platform, with or without the spare restricting member being accommodated.
The side restricting member is attached to the loading table in correspondence with the size of two or more levels in the cross direction of the sheets, and the side on which the sheets on the loading table are controlled in the cross direction A sheet feeding device characterized in that a mounting portion is provided. The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A lifting plate which can move up and down, pushing up the sheets stacked on the loading table;
The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary mounting portion is configured to project the preliminary regulating member partially below the lower end position of the moving range of the push-up plate. The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The sheet feeding mechanism draws the sheet on the loading table in a direction opposite to the side of the end portion regulated by the permanent installation regulating member or the spare regulating member;
The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the side restriction member is provided on a side of the sheet on the loading table with respect to the sheet pulling direction by the sheet feeding mechanism. The sheet feeding device according to claim 7, wherein
The constant installation restricting member has a concave portion formed in a concave shape from above at a central position with respect to the cross direction,
Having two said preliminary regulating members,
The side restricting members are provided on both sides in the cross direction with respect to the sheet on the loading table;
As the main mounting portion,
A first main mounting that corresponds to the first size smaller than the maximum size of the paper in the drawing direction, and mounts the two spare regulating members at positions corresponding to both parts of the permanent regulating member avoiding the concave portion. Department,
A second main attachment portion is provided, which corresponds to a second size smaller than the first size in the drawing-out direction of the sheet, and which mounts one of the spare regulating members at a position corresponding to the concave portion. A sheet feeding device characterized by An image forming apparatus, comprising: a sheet feeding unit; and an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet supplied from the sheet feeding unit,
An image forming apparatus, wherein the sheet feeding unit incorporates the sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.